Inappropriate employee behavior takes many forms. The most common issues focus on violations of company norms, such as dress and ethics codes. In other cases, an employer may have to prevent threatening or assaultive behavior from escalating into violence. As a result, employers are placing greater emphasis on spelling out behavioral standards and nuances for each position. Such guidelines are essential to establishing a safe, professional and well-functioning workplace.

Bullying

Increasingly, supervisors are being challenged to address workplace bullying, or actions and comments that belittle, degrade, demean or harass at work. Thirty-five to 50 percent of workers in the United States and other industrialized western nations reporting feeling bullied at some point in their careers, according to the HR.BLR.com website. Failure to address these issues can lead to catastrophic consequences for employers, including higher turnover, litigation and retraining staff to deal with the aftermath of bullying complaints.

Disruptive Behavior

Disruptive behavior refers to actions that interfere with workplace operations, or prevents employees from carrying out assigned tasks. To prevent violent incidents from occurring at work, organizations like StonyBrook University use employee codes to classify disruptive behaviors that staff can report for further action by management. For example, StonyBrook's code defines threatening behavior as approaches and comments that fall short of physical contact, and violent behavior as physical assault -- with or without weapons -- or threats of physical harm.

Improper Dress

In simple terms, an employee behaves inappropriately when he violates dress and appearance norms that his company has established. Context is the key issue that employers must consider in confronting such behavior, as consultant Jerry Osteryoung notes in an analysis for Florida State University. For example, the growing popularity of body piercings and tattoos among younger employees makes it difficult to impose an outright ban against them. However, an employer can draw a clearer-cut line by stating that tattoos and piercings can't be visible at work.

Remedies

Many times, talking with an employee who behaves inappropriately is a sufficient remedy, because the person often doesn't realize that his actions are causing a problem. The employer should document the encounter and monitor how the behavior changes. Specialized one-on-one coaching sessions may also be needed to improve anger management, communication and interpersonal skills. If no improvement occurs, discipline progresses to written reprimands or suspensions, depending on a company's policies. In extreme cases, the employee may have to be fired to maintain internal discipline and morale.

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